Because I had to Grow Up
by Megan Darling
Summary: Moira hates Peter Pan until her younger sister Avery is kidnapped. Could Avery's outrageous stories help solve who took her? Moira must remember her childhood before its too late. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Default Chapter

"Peter Pan! Peter Pan!" my four year old half sister Avery chanted jumping up and down, still riding out on her four o'clock sugar high. She was the only girl in the set of triplets Mom had in her second marriage. Her brothers, Taylor, and Shane chimed in also, wanting to watch the same movie. I hoped that would get them to sleep soon. It was already an hour past their bedtime.  
  
I put in the Disney video in the VCR in the family room. I sighed to myself, I did not want to watch that movie again. I was relieved when Mom called me into the living room, where she was watching "Star Wars" and crying into a box of tissues. She told me to go to the grocery store and get some pistacio ice cream, anchovies, popcorn, and liver. She was pregnant again, by her newest husband, Dr. James Peterson.   
  
We all called him Jim, he was a nice man, besides the fact that he was always on a business trip. Which meant I was an eighteen year old stand-in parent while he was gone. Mom was always having the weirdest cravings. Last week she sent me for a pineapple pizza, sprinkled with croutons, and dipped in ranch dressing. I nodded, appreciating at least a half hour with hearing about Peter Pan.  
  
When I started the car the kids read along tape to Peter Pan was playing. I almost growled and changed it to the radio listening to something-ANYTHING, then Peter Pan.  
  
After getting an odd glance from the cashier, smelling the gross scent of fish, and lugging the two bags into the jeep, I was on the way home. I opened all the windows, hoping the stench wouldn't linger, and took the dark side streets home. It took longer that way, and I was Peter Pan free.  
  
I slammed on the brakes as something-which I thought was a boy-hopped on the hood of the car, as if playing some kind of stepping stone game. I shook my head, too much Peter Pan stories had invaded my brain. I jumped out of the car, almost hoping I did hit some kid on a bike, but no one was there. There was no dent in the hood, but it seemed to glow in the moonlight. I sat back down on the leather interior and tried to piece things together, pondering the fact that perhaps I needed a cat scan. A breeze picked up and and the leaves hit against the trees a faint sound of bells jingled. I really needed sleep. 


	2. Part One

The next morning Shane was jumping on my bed demanding breakfast. Mom was at a doctors appointment, at least that's what the note read pinned to the refridgerator. I heard the kids chattering under the dining room table, adjacent to the kitchen. I fixed three bowls of a sugar-coated cereal at the kitchen table and stopped before entering the dining room, remaining behind the door to hear the conversation Avery was leading.   
  
"...and he came and told me about how Hook had captured Slightly." Avery commented, very excited as her brother's eyes lit up.  
  
"Wait, which one is he?" Taylor asked, his face scrunched together, as if he was thinking hard about the question.  
  
"The kind of tall one, who think he knows everything." Shane answered, proud of himself.  
  
Avery rolled her eyes in an innocent childlike way that almost made me laugh. "Yeah and he saved him with his knife. Tinkerbell came too! She likes grandma's jug on the fireplace." Avery continued, smugly.  
  
"Why didn't you wake me up? I wanted to see her!" Taylor exclaimed ready to pout.  
  
"Peter told me not to, he said not yet." Avery pointed her finger towards the large window.  
  
"And I want to learn to fly!" Shane looked didn't look very angry, but crossed his arms around his chest, to emphasize what he was feeling.  
  
"Don't be mad at Peter Pan-"  
  
At this point I had heard enough. She had always told the boys stories about Peter Pan visiting their bedroom at the middle of the night, and Mom and James had a long conversation, about not to lie to her brothers, because it always made them jealous. Once Taylor cried into Moms lap for half and hour because Avery got to hold Tinkerbell in her hand, and he didn't.   
  
I flung the door open so fast, it made all three jump from under the table. They were still dressed in their pajamas as they emerged from underneath their hideout. "Avery, don't you remember what Mom told you about lieing?" of course this led to an on-going quarrel that a three year old is always right.  
  
The rest of the day Avery didn't talk to me. She would tell Taylor "Moira doesn't believe in him anymore," or "Moira is a grown-up now." That night I got them to bed and Taylor and Shane kissed me goodnight while Avery pretended to be sleeping.  
  
I walked downstairs and watched a movie on TV while on the phone with one of my best friends, explaining how my baby-sitting duties kept me from the Senior Spring Fling at school. It was nearing midnight and I decided to retire to bed. I walked by Mom's room and saw both her and Jim sleeping quite loudly. I walked passed my room to check on the triplets before I went to bed. I hoped Avery would forgive me by morning, she was the only sister I had.   
  
I opened the door and the nightlight on the dresser projected stars and wanning moons all over the bedroom, spinning in a circle. Shane begged Mom to get it at the strip mall since he couldn't have pixie dust to fly. I sighed at the memory, everything was Peter Pan in their room. Hand drawn pictures were taped to the wall over their beds, I couldn't help but be in awe at the imagination and creativity used. Shane's bed was to my right and I bent over and kissed him on the forehead. As I did the same to Taylor he moaned and started talking in his sleep, "I want to go with too.... don't be too silly in the clouds avery....... you listen to Peter and come back safe......" Then he rolled over and there was nothing more. I shrugged it off and pulled the covers up to his chin.  
  
I made my way to the other side of the room to see Avery, but the covers were pulled back to no one was there. I frooze trying to think straight. Perhaps, maybe, I was too tired and my eyes were playing tricks on me. No matter how hard I stared at the bed, it was still empty. Suddenly I felt a chill and my attention went straight to the small window. It was open ajar and the spring breeze was whistling it's way through. Bella (Avery's curly red haired doll) was on the floor. I automatically thought she tried to fly (Shane once sprinkled her with sugar and glitter, calling it pixie dust, and told her to try and fly off the second floor banister) and ran to see if she was outside. No luck. 


	3. Part Two

My mind was spinning, buzzing with possible explainations, everything came back to Peter Pan. I ran to the bathrooms then flew through the house turning on all the lights yelling her name. If this was a game she was playing to get back at me for yelling at her she was looking at no TV or candy, or worse yet, no Peter Pan for a month!  
  
My frantic scurrying about the house woke Mom and Jim up. I was in the living room when Jim appeared, almost falling down the stairs, "What's going on Miora?" His almost gray hair was unruley and sticking up on his head, he threw on his glasses and he sheilded his eyes from the bright light of the living room. Mom was hobbling down the stairs holding onto the her stomach and the railing, not liking the bright welcome of the living room either. "Avery's missing."  
  
"What do you mean?" Mom almost screeched.  
  
"She's not in her bed or the kitchen-"  
  
"-she's probably in the kitchen getting some water, she's been on this late night kitchen kick lately-" Jim said rationally removing his hand from his eyes and squinting in my direction.  
  
"She's gone Jim. I looked everywhere!" I almost screamed.  
  
Mom looked at Jim and Jim went into the kitchen and I heard the beeping as he punched three numbers into the phone. I helped Mom down the last few stairs and sat her down on the couch.   
  
The police came at Jim's request and didn't leave until a few hours after sunrise. That was when Taylor and Shane came hopping down the stairs, almost too short to reach the banister. Mom had fallen asleep in the chair and Jim was in the den under the staircase explaining his expectant tardiness to his boss. I took the boys into the kitchen and had them sit at the counter while I fixed them their cereal. They didn't say a word about Avery. They often came downstairs without her because she spent the night in my room or in bed with Mom and Jim, I expect that's what they thought.   
  
I went upstairs and grabbed a sweater to throw on, when I came back to the kitchen the boys were gone. I almost panicked until I saw Shane's foot peeking out from behind the other side of the counter. "She's gone you know." Taylor had said.  
  
"I know that!" Shane spoke offensively.  
  
"I had a dream she told me she was going to fly in the stars with Peter."  
  
"And she told me she's bring me back pixie dust and a Never bug." Shane said smuggly.  
  
"She said she's gonna bring me back a real Indian hat!" Taylor wanted to feel superior.  
  
There was a moment of silence and then Shane asked, "Did she tell you when she was going to come home forever?"  
  
Just then Jim flew open the door behind me, tieing his tie and setting his breifcase on the counter. The boys jumped back on their chairs and complained their cereal was soggy. "I won't be gone long Miora, call me immediately you hear anything." He grabbed a banana and threw a granola bar in his breifcase before putting his jacket on. He kissed the top of Taylor and Shane's before he instructed them to behave and then kissed the top of my head. He went out the garage door and I heard Mom stirring in the living room.  
  
Avery had been already missing three days. The police were clueless and Jim was constantly checking hospitals. Mom tried to keep busy to keep her mind off of worrying. She had taken Shane and Taylor on a late night ice cream binge, Jim was in his den on the phone spelling out Avery's name, "That's right, A as in ant, V as in very, E as in elephant..." I sat in the chair near the front door worrying my every last nerve. I had already did all the laundry and scrubbed not only my room and the bathrooms but the whole kitchen and organized the pantry. I needed to be busy. I walked into the kid's room and picked up dirty clothes off the floor. I hoped Avery would come home soon, safe and sound, I almost cried staring at the empty bed. I picked up a pair of purple striped pants off the rocking chair near the fireplace and found a sock high upon the fireplace next to grandma's jug. The ledge was extremely dusty, their were tiny spots in the dust, like tiny foot prints, but dusted them away, thinking nothing about it. I picked up the jug and noticed a fair amount of dust build-up inside, so much so that it poured out into my hand. The weird thing about it was that it sparkled. The first thing that came across my mind was that Shane and Taylor had filled it with their homemade pixie dust, but then again it was so high up... I tucked it under my arm decided the children's room was no place for a family airloom and would later place it in the attic.  
  
As I walked downstairs Shane and Taylor followed Mom through the front door jumping up and down singing a made up song about itsy bitsy birdie feet. It wasn't until after watching Peter Pan, and hour long bath, and five glasses of water that they finally went to bed. Mom and Jim were in the kitchen talking and I walked into my room wanting nothing more then to fall onto my pillow and go to sleep. But as I walked to my bed I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I froze. I stood completely still, all evidence of drowsiness dissappeared. I looked around and was relieved when what I saw wasn't an axe murderer, but grandma's jug. The dust glimmered in the moonlight and my heart started to calm down. I looked in my junk drawers for a flashlight (I had learned the hard way that there was no electricty in the attic) but came up empty handed. I saw a large taper candle sitting on my dresser and decided it would have to do. I lit it and headed toward the attic. 


	4. Part Three

Maybe I shouldn;t call it an attic, it's just the highest room in the house, it was big enough to be a nursery, and used to be my room until I was six. Mom said it was "too drafty" and moved me to the room overlooking the bird's nest in the large tree besides the house. The only thing I remembered about the room was staring at the North Star from my bed at night, outside the large window, which was now locked. It was now served as a room to hold old boxes, my old crib, and things passed down from generations, the things Mom didn't want the kids to get a hold of.  
  
I opened the window slightly because the room had been incredibly stuffy. I walked over to a shelf against the wall to put the jug on, in doing so I tripped on an old chest with my name carved into the wood. I traced the letters with my finger, wipping away a lot of dust. I unlatched the hook and flipped the heavy lid to reveal my childhood. One by one I pulled out memories long forgotten. My old ballet tutu was a pale pink and I hardly believed that I was ever that tiny. A silver baton, tap shoes, and silly drawings were spread out on the wooden floor and I couldn't help but smile at all those memories I kept tucked in the hidden corners of my mind. The most odd thing I pulled out, however, was a cardboard sword and a green hat that had a red feather sticking out from it. I had absolutly no memory of these items but put the hat on and gazed at the sword wondering where I got them from. As I took into consideration they were gifts from crazy Aunt Eileen from one of her many trips to countries I can't even pronounce, something in the corner caught my eye. I glanced over my should and saw my shadow, complete with the ridiculous hat and childish sword, dancing in the candle light. It seemed oddly familiar and stared at the shadow dancing on the light as if it had all the answers in the world.  
  
I don't know how long I stood their smiling at the wall (was I totally loosing my mind?) but I was snapped out of the gaze by a small creek and saw the window wide open. An extreme amount of fear arose in me and the butterflies in my stomach were having butterflies in their stomachs. I was not alone in the attic. Slowly I turned around, ready to dash out the door at the first sign of danger.   
  
Suddenly the hat was snatched from my head, but there was nobody there. Paralyzed with fear I stood there. "There it is!" a young boyish voice said in amusement. I looked up and saw a young boy, throwing the hat in the air, and having it land perfectly on his head. I was speechless as he floated in mid air above me. He hovered over me and inspected me deeply confused gaze. "Boy, you sure don't look like the Moira I remember." He flipped backwards and landed lightly on the hardwood floor as a ball of light emerged from his pocket.   
  
I fell to my knees, feeling like jello, trying to piece this all together. I'm dreaming, that has to be it. I pinched myself and, while rubbing the pain away, came to the conclusion I was going crazy, yes, that has to be it. Funny farm, here I come. The ball of light dashed around me head inspecting what the boy had just said and darted in the purple jug on the pile of books next to the trunk.  
  
"The Moira you remember?" I choked out not sure if it made sense. "Who are you?" The flash of light took offense to this and dashed around pinching my skin and tugging at my hair. The floating boy captured her in my hat and held her their until she stopped jumping around. "You don't remember me? I'm Peter Pan! Don't you remember, Moira?"  
  
He had let the flash of light, he called Tinkerbell, go and she hovered over his head before landing on his shoulder as if he was about to tell the most interesting story ever and she got the best seat. "Remember what?" I snapped still not sure if I was talking to anyone except an attic room.   
  
"You were my mother! Captain Hook almost killed you when his sword caught your jacket on the mast. But I saved you!" He pointed to himself, very pleased. He laughed as said, "I like this game, ask me another question!" I wasn't sure what to believe.  
  
"And I suppose I flew on pixie dust and I told all the Lost Boys stories and we scampered through the forest eating berries and danced with Tiger Lilly." I said strictly being sarcastic.  
  
"So you do remember!" He did a somersault in the air, excited and giddy, as Tinkerbell fell off his shoulder and nearly crashed to the floor.  
  
I told him I was being sarcastic, and then I tried to explain what sarcastic meant, he finally cut me off, thinking he was being insulted, "It wasn't my fault you went away. I came back for you but you were gone." He had his back to me, his legs and arms crossed pouting as Shane would do. "Tink said you were becoming a grown up, you told me to go away," he pouted at the memory then continued, giving me a sour look. "but I came back to your new window and that's how I met Avery."  
  
It sounds bad, but I had forgotten about Avery. Suddenly my senses were pouring back into me (okay not all my senses, I was still talking to a floating boy and his faithfull side-kick, the bright ball of light). "You have Avery? Where's Avery? Did you hurt her? If one hair on her body is hurt-"  
  
"-she's sleeping in her bed, flying makes her tired." He sunk to the floor and grabbed the cardboard sword, comparing it to the one in his leather belt. "She came face to face with Hook, that codfish, he cut the strap off her pouch." He then fensed with his shadow showing me how he fought with Hook. I didn't stay to see who won, I ran down to Avery's bed. 


	5. Part Four

I swung open the door and saw Avery clutching Bella, fast asleep in her bed. I ran to her bedside and gently woke her up by stroking the hair off her face. Her eyes opened and she jumped up to hug me. "Oh Moira! I missed you! I had such an awesome time!"  
  
I smiled, "Avery where were you? Who took you away from us?" I had thought the events in the attic were brought on by a temporary case of insanity.  
  
"Peter Pan brang me to Neverland! I gone to Neverland Moira!" Avery pointed to something behind me. I turned to see Peter Pan chasing the blades of the ceiling fans around in circles. "I never want to grow up like you Moira! Tootles said that Tink said that Peter said that you said you had to grow up and you couldn't go to Neverland anymore. But I'm not going to grown up. No way! I want to go back!" By this time Avery was out of bed, jumping up and down with excitement wanting me to listen her all about her adventures. But my attention drifted off to the corner where I noticed my shadow wasn't listening to Avery's great adventure. It floated up to the ceiling and stuck out it's finger for me to follow. Avery was on the other side of the room to pick up her authentic Indian hat and a glass jar with a Never bug inside. When she turned around Tink had already covered me with pixie dust, that's when I gave into insanity.  
  
As I sat there, still bewildered, Tink hovered over me and sprinkled me with pixie dust. If you've never experienced this you will never know just how happy you can be. It feels like standing in the rain, feeling the rain drip on your head, soaking your clothes, and you don't care. But at the same time you feel the warmth of the sun and a steam engine of warm chills that deliever the happiest feelings you never know you had.  
  
"C'mon Moira! This used to be your favoritist game!" Peter exclaimed hovering over Taylor's bed. As I floated up I saw a the biggest smile on Avery's face. She began to dance excitedly. Peter was hovering over Taylor's bed, showing off what he could do, while Tink flew over to Shane and sat on his nose.  
  
As I flew around trying to catch my shadow, then trying to catch Peter I remembered the happy days before I was obliged to grow up. The leaves of Tinkerbell's dress tickled Shane's nose and woke him up. I had never seen him happier. Taylor woke up and immediatly challenged Peter to a duel with him plastic saber he got at the toy store.  
  
I sank down to Avery's bed as I listened to her talk about her adventure on the Jolly Roger and how long it took her to capture a Never bug. In the midst of all this unbelievable happiness it came to an abrupt hault.   
  
Mom and Jim rushed in, hearing all the laughter and Taylor's "Have at thee!" and "Prepare to meet thy doom!" exclaimations. Jim had a bewildered look on his face and Mom had a matching one, but as soon as she caught sight of Avery she rushed to her.  
  
As soon as Peter had seen the grown-ups he immediatly flew out the window, but not before nashing his teeth at them. Tinkerbell jingled something I didn't understand, but by her actions, I didn't take it as nice. Taylor and Shane ran to the window and waved good bye. Avery would have followed if Mom wasn't hugging her so tightly. Jim still stood at the door, with the same bewildered face.  
  
Later that night Mom ordered the triplets sleep in her room. Jim questioned me several times on the events he witnessed and I just smiled claiming, "I'm not sure." or "I don't know." I had gone to my room shortly after.  
  
I remembered (and regretted) the day that I had to grow up. Dad had left Mom for his secratary. Mom was very upset and I had tried to cheer her up with my Barbie doll. Unexpectedly she took it out of my hand and said "Moira! You have to start growing up! I need a big girl to help Mommy around the house! Will you start being a big girl for Mommy?" I had packed all my Barbies, My Little Pony's, Rainbow Bright dolls, my Popples collection and Quints into boxes that night and told Mom I would grow up as fast as I could.  
  
That was the night I told Peter to go away. He had visited me quite often in my old room. I went away to Neverland with him once, just about the time Mom and Dad were talking about seperating. I stayed for three nights. The first night Peter and I played hide-n-seek through the tree tops and waterfalls for hours on end. The second day I spent trapped in a hole I couldn't climb out of. I was saved by a wolf who left me in Peter's care. Day three the Lost Boys and I were at Mermaid Lagoon and Captain Hook came and kidnapped me. Peter saved me and flew me home. That's when Mom moved me to a different room "Too many times," she would say, "I would check up on you in the middle of the night and you were gone." She claimed she would check the bathroom and the kitchen, and even her own bed, and when she returned to my room I would be back in my bed. She didn't want to loose her big girl again.  
  
In the middle of my reminicing Peter had flown to my window to say good bye. A devilish smile spread across his face before he left. "You can come back with me Moira." I declined until he told me poor Nibs cried for two days when I left without finishing the end of "Ruplestilskin" years ago.  
  
And so I flew away with Peter and Tinkerbell, back to my childhood, to take care of some unfinished business before I grew too old to fly past the boundries of the Neverland. 


End file.
